What do French people eat in a day?
The French eat a small breakfast, a proper lunch between 12:00 and 14:00, a sweet goûter for children around 16:30 and dinner from about 20:00, at the table and in courses.
Typical dishes and their calories
Breakfast
Petit déjeuner is light: a tartine of baguette with butter and jam, or a croissant of about 250 kcal, with coffee, tea or hot chocolate and often a glass of orange juice. Many people dip the bread into a wide bowl of café au lait. Croissants and pains au chocolat are more of a weekend habit.
Lunch
Déjeuner runs from about 12:00 to 14:00, most often 12:30 to 13:30, and it is a real meal. A set menu is a starter, a main of meat or fish with vegetables, then cheese or dessert. School canteens serve children the same order, and a croque monsieur of about 500 kcal is the quick café version.
Dinner
Dîner starts around 20:00 and is a family meal at the table. It is often lighter than lunch: soup, a salad, a quiche, an omelette or leftovers, with bread and cheese. Slow dishes such as coq au vin, blanquette or cassoulet are more for weekends and guests.
Starters
In France an entrée is the starter, not the main course. Common ones are grated carrots in vinaigrette, leeks in vinaigrette, a slice of pâté, onion soup or a slice of quiche lorraine, about 450 kcal. Before dinner with friends comes the apéro, with drinks, olives, saucisson and crackers.
Desserts
Dessert closes most meals, often after a cheese course. Crème brûlée, tarte tatin, mousse au chocolat and île flottante are classics, and many families buy a fruit tart or éclairs at the pâtisserie for Sunday lunch. On a weekday a yoghurt or a piece of fruit is just as normal.
Drinks
Many adults have wine with lunch or dinner, and a 125 ml glass of red is about 85 kcal. Coffee is a small espresso, drunk after the meal rather than with it. The apéro brings pastis in the south, kir in Burgundy, cider in Brittany and Normandy, or simply a beer.
Street food
Crêpes and galettes are sold from stands all over the country, and a crêpe with butter and sugar is around 170 kcal. The jambon beurre, ham and butter in half a baguette, is the sandwich the French buy most. Nice has socca, a chickpea pancake, and the pan bagnat.
Normal there, odd elsewhere
Children have a fixed afternoon snack, the goûter, around 16:30, often a piece of baguette with a bar of chocolate inside. Cheese is its own course, between the main and dessert. Bread goes straight on the tablecloth beside your plate, and snails, frog legs and steak tartare are ordinary items on a menu.